NASA says it has succeeded in deflecting an asteroid in a historic test of humanity\u2019s ability to stop an incoming cosmic object from devastating life on Earth.
\nAccording to international media, the fridge-sized Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impactor deliberately smashed into the asteroid Dimorphos on September 26, pushing it into a smaller, faster orbit around its big brother Didymos, NASA chief Bill Nelson said.
\n\u201cDART shortened the 11 hour, 55 minute orbit to 11 hours and 23 minutes,\u201d he said. Speeding up Dimorphos\u2019 orbital period by 32 minutes exceeded NASA\u2019s own expectation of 10 minutes.
\n\u201cWe showed the world that NASA is serious as a defender of this planet,\u201d Nelson said.
\nThe asteroid pair loop together around the sun every 2.1 years and pose no threat to Earth, but they posed an ideal test of the \u201ckinetic impact\u201d method of planetary defence in case an actual approaching object is ever detected.
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